Charlotte "Mama C" O'Neal to speak at LSC-North Harris Feb. 21

Published on: February 12, 2013

Charlotte “Mama C” O’Neal will be presenting “The Spirit of the Panther Lives on Through Art, Youth and Social Action in Tanzania and Beyond,” on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. in the Lone Star College-North Harris Arena Theater (ACAD-142). The community is invited to attend this free event.

O’Neal, known to most as Mama C, is a world-class improvisational jazz, blues, spoken word and visual artist. A co-founder of the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party, Mama C immigrated to Africa in 1971, where she and her husband, Pete O’Neal, co-founded the United African Alliance Community Center. Her poetry and reflections are widely published, and she is the subject of numerous books, articles, and documentaries, including Mama C: Urban Warrior in the African Bush, which will screen at the Pan-African Film Festival this month.

Her presentation at LSC-North Harris will showcase her perspective on community healing, and be interspersed with spoken word poetry and obokano music. It is part of her annual Heal the Community Tour, designed to foster cultural exchange between America and Africa, while also pointing out the many commonalities of community challenges and community solutions that are shared among urban America and the African Bush.

Prior to her afternoon presentation, she will also be the featured guest for a brown bag lunch discussion at noon in the LSC-North Harris Women’s Resource Center.

The visit by Mama C is one of several events the college is hosting as part of its Black History Month celebration. The Carver High School Panther Players will be performing The Color Purple, at noon on Feb. 19, and a number of other artistic and cultural student activities are scheduled during February. For a complete schedule of Black History Month events, visit LoneStar.edu/BlackHistoryMonth.

For more information about the Mama C presentation, call 281.618.5543.

Lone Star College-North Harris is located at 2700 W.W. Thorne Drive, one-half mile south of FM 1960 East, between Aldine-Westfield and Hardy Roads. For more information about the college, call 281.618.5400 or visit LoneStar.edu/NorthHarris.

With 75,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, and the fastest-growing community college system in Texas. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, five centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.